Free Air Dash vs Omni Air Dash

So I've been noticing that on a lot of the tourney replay vids that have been popping up in topics recently, OAD is being used on characters that I would have assumed would use FAD to close the distance.

Admitedly OAD does mean you always get the EX Core, but I'm assuming there are other, more technical reasons than this. So can anyone enlighten me on the technical pros and cons?

Out all of the physical characters, I think Squall and sometimes Tidus are the oy ones really needing FAD. Squall so that he can abuse Heel Crush spam, Tidus so that he can get in and mix up attacks like Hopstep or Stick and Move. I personally just use OAD on almost all of my characters and also have equipped Air Dash (Presses triangle to dash toward the opponent while quickmoving) Air Dash normally, if it doesn't get me close enough to the opponent, gets me half way across a map.---Gamertag: Axiaon ------ PSN ID: ArmoxusIf you think FPS's take no skill, you are a moron.

You're one of the sensible posters so I'm well aware it's informed opinion :)

I'm not looking for a single person to swing my view on either or, simply looking to get a reasonable discussion going. I only have in game experience, and very little PvP, so I don't know how important it is there, or how important the EX Core is in PvP.

And in PvP, unless you're playing without EX cores (Which means no EX mode, which IMO makes a match very dull. Rarely anyone plays with this rule), They are the biggest goal of getting. Sure, you don't need EX mode to win a match, but it sure does add variety to the game, and gives you an advantage. The advantage is mainly scoring in lots of criticals while in EX mode, but you could also use it to regen some lost health in the match.---Gamertag: Axiaon ------ PSN ID: ArmoxusIf you think FPS's take no skill, you are a moron.

If you're speaking in reference at all to the currently still first page Singapore Dissidia Tournament thread, you'll actually see a lot of the melee players have Free Air instead of Omni. Personally, I found myself being one of the few melee characters who used Omni. (I'm Haruhiist, the Tidus).

In my opinion, Free Air has various uses. It tracks vertically, goes straight to the enemy character, is a lot easier to use to charge through spells like Holy and most importantly can be used to mindgame. A lot of players from fighting AI and possibly from their newb days have an instinct to block when someone is FADing at him. His enemy can just simply dodge cancel before he hits the blocking player, and then attack during the lag time after block.

However it's slow, predictable and you'll almost never get EX cores. But that's why people equip Multi Air Slide+ together with FAD, so they get the best of both worlds. Mostly.

Omni Air Dash is a lot faster, goes a lot further and lets you dash away or past the opponent for a sneak attack. It still reflects spells but you're unlikely to be able to charge straight at the enemy to get a hit in from the spellcasting lag time. The only other bad point I can think of is that it only goes horizontally.

I use Omni Air Dash on all my characters regardless, because I like getting EX cores. A EX Guard can totally turn the tides around in a fight, also I like the mindgaming aspect where you dash around and around your enemy and try to get them when their guard is down. I use Air Dash (Triangle during Quickmove to dash straight at enemy with OAD speed) for mage-dashing purposes.

I only use FAD against Terra, she has no unblockable spells (FADing to Kefka may very well get you WWF'd) and isn't dangerous at all when you're FADing. Otherwise, Omni all the way, together with Air Dash of course, which I think is essential with OAD for vertical-tracking. ^_^

OAD is fast and great for closing in or fleeing, where as Free Air Dash is only good for closing in. Fleeing my seem cowardly, but this isn't a game where charging in head first works.OAD also homes in on the EX Core like FAD, but with its speed you can get it a lot faster.Both dashes can be blocked, but it's a bit harder to block OAD then FAD for obvious reasons.Though you can't vertically home in on your opponent with OAD, that's why you have jumps (and with OAD you don't need Multi Air Slide).

I use OAD on all my characters, because to be good you have to know when to retreat and regroup, you have to stay calm and you can't quite do that if you're getting irritated and beat up.